Golden boy

Nichols wins decathlon to lead McDaniel at conference meet

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Jake Nichols (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) won the decathlon to lead McDaniel to an eighth-place finish at the 2011 Centennial Conference (CC) men's outdoor track and field championship hosted by Muhlenberg on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Green Terror amassed 52 points, taking home no fewer than one of each medal and finishing 12 points out of sixth place. Dickinson won its second straight team title, scoring 185 to outdistance Haverford by 35 points.

Nichols recorded a personal-best 5,383 points in the decathlon to earn McDaniel's first gold medal since 2006 and first top finish in the 10-eventer since 2001.

Nichols best finish came in the 110 hurdles, which he won in a time of 16.31 seconds. He also notched a pair of seconds in the 100 (11.83) and pole vault (3.66 meters). He was third in three more events.

Individually, Quinn leapt to second in the triple jump, hitting the NCAA Division III provisional standard with a jump of 14.34 meters. The freshman was also second in the long jump with a season-best jump of 6.73.

Quinn joined Joe Rollins (Temple Hills, Md./Surratsville), Trevor Crest (Baltimore, Md./Episcopal) and Juris Eyler (Middletown, Md./Middletown) to earn bronze in the 4x100-meter relay to open action on Sunday. The quartet put down a season-best time of 43.17 seconds.

Nichols added a fourth-place showing in the 110 hurdles (16.54) while Eyler was sixth in the 400 (50.55). Both improved their time and see from the Saturday prelims.

Quinn added points in the high jump, clearing 1.75 meters to finish fourth. Cody Shives (Smithsburg, Md./Smithsburg) was eighth in the same event (1.65).

Carlos Hernandez (Derwood, Md./Magruder) finished sixth in the discus (39.73) while Nichols was seventh in the pole vault (3.65) account for the rest of the 52 points.

The Green Terror returns to action at the Kehoe Twilight Meet hosted by Maryland on Thursday.